By: Erica Briggs on March 20, 2024
One of my favorite movies is “Waking Life,” first watched almost 25 years ago while teaching in the Black Studies Department at Califoria State University, Long Beach (CSULB). I shared clips from the film with my students and we used them as prompts to critically think and write about our understanding of life. Why We’re…
By: Nancy Blackman on March 20, 2024
If I told you a story about a famous writer, would you believe me, or would you be more inclined to believe the story if you read it in a major magazine or newspaper? This is part of Bobby Duffy’s book Why We’re Wrong About Nearly Everything: A Theory of Human Misunderstanding. As you try…
By: Kristy Newport on March 19, 2024
Matt Petrusek, in a lecture on Wokeism- The Frankenstein of Political Ideologies (Lecture 1) shared a story from 2006 when a Duke Lacrosse Team was accused of raping a young woman. [1] I was curious about the details of this story, so I found a You tube: Presumed Guilty: Due Process Lessons of the Duke…
By: Adam Cheney on March 19, 2024
I get the opportunity regularly to speak to different churches in my area about refugees and immigrants. Sometimes, it is a separate class or a small group that invites me to speak and they are eager to hear more information. Then, other times, it is a brief overview to the whole congregation and then I…
By: Pam Lau on March 19, 2024
The first time I heard the name Jordan Peterson was in 2018. Sitting in the back two rows of my Fall 2018 communication courses was a group of young men between the ages of 22-30 who found themselves enrolled in college after time serving in the military. Several weeks into listening to their responses to…
By: Russell Chun on March 19, 2024
Ztracen ve tmě. Lost in the dark – Czech Flashback Part 1 What my peers are saying Part 2 What Peterson taught me. Epilogue – New Map/Old Map Flashback Scene #1 – Steelpot jammed on his head, flashlight in hand – fighting the dark, wind threatening to rip the map from his hands, the 2LT…
By: Esther Edwards on March 19, 2024
“Meaning is the most profound manifestation of instinct.”[1] One of the most inspiring stories of human resilience was that of Victor Frankl. Dr. Frankl wrote a detailed account of his life as a prisoner in the Nazi death camps where he lost his beloved wife, mother, father, and brother. Out of his loss and the…
By: David Beavis on March 19, 2024
With American public schools falling behind and an increasing distrust of the public school system, Emma Green, a columnist for The New Yorker, spotlights a trend in American education: families are substituting public schools with charter schools that focus on the classics.[1] With a foundation of ancient Greek and Roman writers, the pillars of classical…
By: Debbie Owen on March 19, 2024
The mood in the sanctuary was somber. After quickly getting some snacks in the dining room and saying hello to some friends, about twenty people returned to the sanctuary for a post-service “talk-back” about the sermon. The sermon was titled, “Jesus was a white guy holding a lamb” as part of the “Unlearning” series. During…
By: Glyn Barrett on March 19, 2024
Please forgive me. I am writing about “Why We Are Wrong About Nearly Everything” on a long-haul flight, so this blog will have a very short supply of cross-referencing with other sources. In a world where so many people are seemingly so sure about what they believe and why, Bobby Duffy’s book is…
By: Becca Hald on March 18, 2024
“The truth is the truth is the truth is the truth throughout the ages – that’s what it means to worship the one true God. And our job is to follow the truth, to fight for it, and to make way for it, wherever it may lead.”[1] So Matthew R. Petrusek ends Part I of…
By: Tim Clark on March 18, 2024
Every week, as we begin class, Dr. Clark gives our cohort the coffee table test: “If a person saw the book that we all read this week on your coffee table, and asked what it was about, what would you tell them?”. This week we read Jordan Peterson’s Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief,…
By: Jeff Styer on March 18, 2024
“Vote Yes on Issue 1.” Last year Ohio lawmakers voted to hold a special election on August 8th; special elections just months earlier had been outlawed unless a government entity faced a fiscal emergency.[1] The election had only one measure on the ballot, change Ohio’s Constitution to allow future constitutional changes only if 60% of…
By: Jennifer Vernam on March 18, 2024
Written in 1999, Jordan B Peterson’s Maps of Meaning[1] endeavored to help us make sense of the world’s cache of stories and myths that shared similar symbols and meanings. His assertion is that when we pay attention to the patterns we see in the narratives we use, we uncover helpful and necessary truths about ourselves…
By: Travis Vaughn on March 18, 2024
Has one of your favorite singers or bands ever decided to go unplugged? One of the bands I’ve enjoyed listening to over the past twenty years is Rise Against. In 2018, they forewent their typical electric, frenetic, punk rock sound to go acoustic in Ghost Note Symphonies. The compilation album included some of their songs…
By: Sara Taylor Lattimore on March 18, 2024
Nigel Biggar author of Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning, stepped out on a ledge when writing his controversial book on British Colonialism. In the context of 2023, he took a risk and he also struggled greatly to have the book published. I believe in the value of varied perspectives. Learning from each other and seeking to…
By: Noel Liemam on March 17, 2024
In the Summer of 2015 Issue, the Westmont Magazine has a heading titled, “The Moral Leadership of American President,” [1] that speaks to the importance of Moral Leadership in the highest office of the Nation. Couple excerpt from the articles reads, “Moral leadership is in fact a central task of our presidents when it’s done…
By: Daron George on March 17, 2024
Colonialism, as defined by Merriam-Webster is “domination of a people or area by a foreign state or nation : the practice of extending and maintaining a nation’s political and economic control over another people or area[1]” Nigel Biggar, Emeritus Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at the University of Oxford, challenges prevailing attitudes towards…
By: Chad McSwain on March 16, 2024
By what information do we form our perceptions, opinions and future behavior? Psychologist point out that people are not entirely rational and rely on shortcuts called “biases” to make sense of information. One particular bias that seems relevant for a reflection of historical events and their impact on the present and future is called the…
By: Jana Dluehosh on March 15, 2024
Let me tell you a story about a shy, little girl. She happened to be part of a family that a lot of people knew and sometimes put on a pedestal. They were talented and outgoing. This little girl did not want any attention, she just wanted to live her life. In her sophomore year…
